North Korea launches more suspected trash balloons

North Korea is launching more balloons believed to be carrying trash southward, South Korea’s military said Saturday, the latest in a series of border barrages that have ignited a tit-for-tat propaganda war.

North Korea has sent thousands of trash-filled balloons southward since May, saying they are retaliation for propaganda balloons launched by South Korean activists.

The latest launch comes as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North recently announcing the deployment of 250 ballistic missile launchers to its southern border.

The nuclear-armed North was “again launching (suspected) trash balloons aimed at the South,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement late Saturday.

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It advised the public to refrain from touching the balloons and to report them to authorities.

Last month, balloons launched by Pyongyang hit the South Korean presidential compound in the capital, prompting the government to mobilize chemical response teams to collect them.

In response to the balloon barrages, Seoul has resumed propaganda broadcasts along the frontier, suspended a tension-reducing military deal and restarted live-fire drills in some border areas.

The isolated North is extremely sensitive about its people’s exposure to South Korean pop culture. According to a recent South Korean government report, a man was executed in 2022 for possession of content from the South.

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On Thursday, Seoul’s military said a suspected North Korean had defected to the South across a de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, with some experts suggesting the decision may have been influenced by the South’s resumed propaganda broadcasts, which include news reports as well as K-pop content.